Finely-divided soap and method of manufacturing the same



. Oct. 30, 1923. 1,412,473

J. C. INGRAM FINE-LY DIVIDED SOA I AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME Filed Aug. 11 1920 @l C hwewtoz Patented Oct. 30,

mien

near FiCiE JOHN CHARAVIELLE INGRAM, @F ELLIRQIS, ASSIGNGR T THE AMERIGAN COTTON OIL EQMPANY, @F NEW EKJEE, H. Y, 43a GQRPQEATEQN @F NEW JERSEY.

FINELY DIVIDEK) SQAP HE}- QF EIANUFACTURIZNfi THE SAME.

Application one anew n, taco. Serial ml 402,896.

To aZZ whom. it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Jean C. inseam, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Finely-Divided Soap and Methods of Manufacturing the Same; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the/in- .vention," such as will enable others skilled the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. a

, This invention. relates to an improved soa powder and to an improved method of ma ing the same by anatomizi .or spraying operation. The invention a so relates to an improved method of' aer-ating and of drying soap for .the production of anaerated or a dried, or a combined aerated and dried, product.

In the common soap making 0 erations, thexhot molten soap is poured 1n rames or molds and is permitted to cool and solidify",

an operation which may require several 7 dated or shredded or finely divided aerated days for its completion. The soap is then .cut intoslabs and finally into bars; which are dried, before thesoap isfinally formed into cakes and driedrbars" are subjected to a chipipin and are then Subjectedto the milling and plodding operations, after which the soap 1s pressed into cakes. v

When soap is converted into mechanical means, it must be drled-to the' proper degree before such chipping or pulverizing can take place, if a dry and nonsticking powder is to be produced, inasmuch as soap which is moist will stick together and retard or prevent the production of the .used for toilet and llke desired powder or chips.

The present invention is based upon the discovery that an improved form of soap powder, having a relatively lar moisture content, and adapted to be rapid yand com-l pletely dissolved, canbe readily produced P from hot molten soapby-anatomizingor spraying operation. The present invention is based upon thefurther discovery'that hot molten soap cam-by an atomizing o'r-spray- 'ing operation with compressed air, be converted into an aerated, floating product.

pressed. If the soap is to be used for making a milled soap, the semip oration, the chips are? then further riedE' a wder by .tages P0 lesser extent if the aeration is not carried "The invention includes the further discovcry that soap can .be rapidly and efii'ciently dried and converted, from a hot molten state, tothe form of a. relatively dry powder, by a combined atomizing and drying operation. The present invention thus includes improvements in the dryin of soap, in the According to the present invention, soap,

while in a hot molten. state, is subjected to a combined spraying and aerating operation,-

vvhereby the soap is atomized or disintegrated and simultaneously aerated, and thereby converted into the form of a granusoap. In carrying out the combined disintegrating and aerating operations the soap can also be dried, by the same operation, so that the finely divided aerated soap is directly produced in a ,dry state. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the disintegrating and aerating operations are cartied to such an extent that the soap powder is a floating powder although the advanof the invention can besecured to a for the production of a finely divided, aer ated and dried product. The conversion of the soap paste, which contains an amount of water in excess ,of that desired in the completed soap,-- is advantageously effected by the combined atomizing and drylng opera tions of the present invention, and the moisture content can thus bereduced to a sufiicientdegree to revent objectionable sticking togetherof t 0 resulting fine particles, whi e nevertheless leaving a sulficiently hi h percentage of moisture in the soap pow er to erm1t rapid and complete solution. According to the present invention, the molding, cooling, drying and other operations commonl V heretofore practiced for the treatment 0 hot molten soap, are obviated, or gradually shortened and simplified, inasmuch as the process of the present invention can be practiced to give directly a d ,aerated soap powder.

'l he soap powder produced according to the present invention may itself be used as a soap powder, or it may be used for the manufacture of soap comparable with milled soap. -When' the soap powder .is to be used as such, it presents the important advantages of floating, because of its aeration, and of being rapidly dissolved,so that the user is insured of the complete solution of'all of the soap added, and can ascertain when such solution is completed, merely by observing when all of the floating'powder has disappeared. I

A The hot molten soap employed in the process of the present invention may be soap that has been subjected to the usual crutching operations for the incorporation of the usual ingredients, perfume, etc., and the soap may likewise be subjected to a. greater or less extent to aeration during the crutching operation. It is a characteristic advantage of the invention, however, that this crutching operation can be eliminated, in

many cases, and the hot molten soap taken directly from the kettle,

without crutching,

' and subjected to the disintegratin aerating,

and drying operations, or the girect production of an aerated soap pow- The invention will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawing, showing one form of apparatus adapted 'for the practice of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing,-

Fi 1 shows in a somewhat conventional and iagrammatic manner an arrangement of'apparatus adapted for the practice of the invention; Fig. '2 is an enlarged view of one form of nozzle.

In the apparatus .illustrated, a suitable supply tank or the hot molten soap is indicated at 1. It may be provided with a slow -moving mixer consisting of a number of be suitably regulated and controlled. The d flow of soap is regulated by the soap valve 6 arranged near the nozzle and operatedby a handle extending through the wall of the atomizing chamber.

The atomizing nozzle 4 is arranged within a large vertical chamber which is supplied with a current of air by means of the fan or blower 8 which discharges through the passage 9. and the opening 10 into t e blowing tower. The temperature of the air can be regulated, by 1 suitable heating means, if desired, to promote the drying operation.

In the operation of the apparatus, the hot molten soap is compounded, if desired, with suitable admixtures, such as fillers, colloidal clay, etc., or taken directly from the soap kettle, and is supplied to the tank 1. The soap paste can be aerated in the supply tank by beating in air or by treatment with air under pressure during the mixing operation. So also, further amounts of air can be incorporated in the pumps 3 and the soap thereby aerated before it is atomized, and the atomizing operation correspondingly promoted.

Compressed air from a suitable source is passed through the air pressure tank 2, where equalization of pressure takes place and where condensed moisture will be trap ed, and'the compressed air is supplie from this tank to the atomizing nozzle at a. suitable pressure of e. g. 25 to pounds per square inch, depending upon the size and construction of the atomizing nozzle, etc.

One suitable form of atomizing nozzle is illustrated in Fig. 2 and is made up of the T 11 to which the air pipe 12 and soap pipe 13 are connected. The discharge is through a spray head 14, of restricted size, but neverthe es; of sufiicient size to substantially prevent danger of clogging of the nozzle. The molten soap is forced lnto the spray nozzle against a vertical stream of air entering from the top and the soap is blown down through the nozzle against the splash disc -15 and is thereby broken up into comparative] small particles and simultaneously aerated The pressure of the air and the supply of soap are so regulated that the operation is continuous and the desired degree of subdivision is effected.

The action which takes place in the nozzle illustrated is, as I believe, a jetting action, due to a rapid and intermittent forcing of minute pistons of molten soap' outwardly through the nozzle by the air jet, and the further disintegration of these particles by the splash disc. This disintegrating action, and the desired aeration, appear to be promoted by the rapid expansion of the air escaping from the high pressure to atmospheric pressure .as well as by the manner in which the air and soap are combined and discharged from the spray nozzle. The subivision and aeration of the soap are thus effected at the outset of the cooling and drymg operations, and the atomized particles of soap are then cooled and dried in their downward passage. against the current of air, so that the desired degree of drying and 'cooling will take place. The expansion of the compre'sed air at the spray nozzle will assist in the cooling and dryingoperations.

The soap powder produced according to the present invention is made up of irregular particles which. may be referred to as granulated or'shredded particles. By proper I I regulation of the drying operation incident to the passage of the finely divided soap through the atomizin nozzle and downwardly through the rying compartment,

the soap can be dried to such an extent that.

it requires no subse uent dryin but can be directly packaged, or direct y treated for the production of soap similar to milled soap, as set forth in my said companion application.

he moisture content of the soap powder can be regulated and varied, and, as above pointedout, a soap powder can 'be roduced having a larger moisture content t an soap powders heretofore produced by mechanical means. The soap powder may thus have a moisture content of 20% or even higher,- and nevertheless be free from ob'ectionable sticking together of the particles, owing tothe fact that durin the drying operation they undergo a supe cial or surface drying which gives a harder and drierputer-surface resistant to sticking together by the ordinary pressure to which the particles are subjected. This harder and drier outer surface protects the inner and softer portions of the particles and permits them to retain an amount of moisture which very materiallypromotes the rapid and complete dissoiving of the articles in water;

The soap partic l acteristic aerated structure, in additionito their characteristic property of having a dry and substantially non-sticking outer surface. Thus, owing to the aeration to which the soap is subjected duringits dis'in:

tegration, the articles are aerated, and the aerated partic es are then dried and given their superficially dried surface. Aerated and dried soap particles can thus heprm duced which have been aerated to a Suficient degree so that the particles will readily float, and which have such a high moisture content that the particles will rapidly dissolve in water.

-Where a" product of greater uniformity of size than that directly obtainable by a spray ing (and ,drying o eratio'n is desired, the soap particles may subjected to a further sieving operation to obtain different degrees offineness. I

- It will be evident that the improved drying process of the present invention effects a rapid and continuous rying f so p andes likewise have a. char-- that the soap can be thus converted from a produced, by the atomizing and aerating operations, and the passing of the atomize product through a current of drying gas, a dried aerated soap powder.

I claim:

1. In the production of soap powder, the step which comprises effecting the disintegration and aeration of the soap by an atomizing or spraying o ration, and the further step of delaying t e collecting of the disintegrated particles to ether, until a protective skin coating is ormed on said particles.

2. In the production of soap powder, the 7 step which comprises effecting the disintegration and aeration of the soap by an atomizing or spraying operation, and the further step of skin drying the particles before they are collected together.

- 3. In the production of soap powder, the

step which comprises subjecting hot liquid 'soap to an atomizing or spraying operation with compressed air andthereby efi'ecting the disintegration and aeration of the soap,

combined with the further step of passing the resulting disintegrated soap through a current of a drying gas moving in the OPPO? site direction to the disintegrated soap whereby to dry the particles while segregated and in suspension, and collecting the resulting dried powder. a

4. The method of producing soap powder, which comprises simultaneously disintegrating and aerating the soap while it ishot and molten with air under pressure, passing. the disintegrated particles through a dry.

ing and cooling gas, moving in the opposite directionto the particles, whereby to delay the aggregation of the particles until a protective skin of dry-soap has formed to prevent the particles from sticking when massed.

5. The method of drying soap, which comprises atomizing hot liquid soap into an atmosphere of an upwardly moving drying gas, permitting the atomizing soap to pass downwardly through such drying gas whereby to delay the aggregation of the disintegratin particles until a protective coating 0 dry soap has formed thereon, regulating the atomlzing operation and the downward passage of the particles and'the drying gas so that "the soap is directlyoh-ffj tained as a dried iproduct. 6. The method of drying soap, which com- I prises subjecting the hot liquid soap to simultapeous disintegration and. aeration with a blast of air, passing the resulting soap particles downwardly through an upwardly 5 moving current of air and regulating the force of the air current and t e extent of the passage of the particles to provide the particles with protective coatings of dry soap while they are in suspension in the air current and segregated.

7. An improved soap powder comprising aerated floating soap particles, said particles being substantially non-adherent and containing not less than about 20% of moisture. In testimon whereof I aflix 1n signature. JOHN HARAVELLE Ii GRAM. 

